[From a photo by Robert Scoble who also took the tour] Erica Naone visited Microsoft’s anechoic chamber while touring their new research building in Redmond, WA. The chamber “a room… built to suppress echoes” is used in microphone and loudspeaker research. She writes about her visit in Technology Review.

From Naone’s article: “This is a room that simulates the absence of a room,’ said Ivan Tashev, a software architect in the speech technology group at Microsoft Research. I walked in through two sets of doors, walking precariously in heels over a mesh suspended above the floor, which is covered by the same alabaster-colored triangular cushions that fill the wall and ceiling. Tashev’s voice seemed to come from far away as he went on explaining that the triangular shapes trap and dampen echoes before they can reflect from one of the surfaces in the room.”

“If you sat here in silence for two minutes, he said, you would start to hear the blood rushing through your ears and the sound of your own heartbeat. After 10 or 15 minutes, the auditory hallucinations would begin.

What’s the use of such a surreal room?”

Ultimately, Naone writes, Tashev envisions sound systems that record and replay accurate directional sounds without requiring users to wear special devices such as headsets. The research will probably not be used in Micrisoft products until the beginning of the next decade, but if you’d like to read more, click here.